Ireland Tour to New Zealand 2012 Discussion thread

brinty

sydthebeat wrote: »

I think someone its bemoaning the fact theres so many leinster players on the team.

I really hope that murray does himself proud on saturday. I know theres been a big clamor for him to be replaced, and tightly so imo, but there opportunity is on his hands.

I'm slightly more optimistic of a less than the spread defeat.

No I'm deadly serious loike....

JustinDee

Deleted User wrote: »

I thought it was pretty funny.
People need to thicken their skins. It's hardly a Frankie Boyle style joke.

You thought it was funny. I thought it was typical cross-the-dutch tosh found whenever a test series is going on.
I don't take it personally. Just give it back as I've always done to Ceptun Comudy's ilk. A bit of banter.
Thick-skin not necessary. They'll take it just as lightly as saying that Suzy never existed and New Zealanders just ate bad prawns.

JustinDee

JustinDee wrote: »

You thought it was funny. I thought it was typical cross-the-dutch tosh found whenever a test series is going on.
I don't take it personally. Just give it back as I've always done to Ceptun Comudy's ilk. A bit of banter.
Thick-skin not necessary. They'll take it just as lightly as saying that Suzy never existed and New Zealanders just ate bad prawns.

well that's just your opinion.

It obviously registered with you as you commented on it instead of having a wee chuckle and moving on, like most did.

Preciousness is pretty much as irritating as the inverse.

Swiwi

BoardsMember wrote: »

And the prize for the sh1ttest, most ignorant, pathetic post of the thread is won, no contest. These guys have given a lot to Irish rugby, you don't have to like them and no problem with outing forward arguments why they should not be in or another should be. But you're no comedian and they deserve some respect. Shame on you.

Harden up, dude. I've put up with my fair share of sheep-shagging, world-cup choking, Pacific-Island-player robbing digs over the years.

In all honestly, I cannot see how the relatively solid but unspectacular Darcy or the ageing O'Gara are the future for Ireland, and indeed most of your compatriots on this blog seem to say the same thing. Why not give Cave & Madigan (if he had been selected) a go?

JustinDee

Deleted User wrote: »

well that's just your opinion.

It obviously registered with you as you commented on it instead of having a wee chuckle and moving on, like most did.

I've been through enough trans-Tasman encounters to know that Kiwis don't like the return volley, Emmet and only then for the main part do they begin to be actually funny

Thank you. I'm here all week. Now go make the men s'm fakkin iggs, wummun.

Fishooks12

I can see that team being a lot more defensively sound but I'm having a very hard time getting excited about this

If it was on an hour earlier I'd be sleeping in


First time since I can remember that I wouldn't be upset about missing a test

Swiwi

JustinDee wrote: »

I've been through enough trans-Tasman encounters to know that Kiwis don't like the return volley, Emmet and only then for the main part do they begin to be actually funny

Thank you. I'm here all week. Now go make the men s'm fakkin iggs, wummun.

You're are welcome to fire back if you want, I won't take offence...

Teferi

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

The people have gotten what they want. We're fielding a team of Leinster HEC winners. If we don't win the game, Murray will be singled out for being the reason why Leinster's HEC form hasn't tranlated to a first win against the All Blacks.

I imagine you typing this while sitting in your Munster PJ's, drinking tea out of a mug that resembles Paul O'Connells face. Before you laying back on your Munster pillowcase you'll kiss your signed Ronan O'Gara picture that lays on your bedside table goodnight and as you lay in bed trying to fall asleep instead of counting sheep you count John Hayes.

BTW, as a Leinster fan and a member of 'the people' I can confirm this is not what I want. The mad selection policy continues. Leinster success in the Heineken Cup is only part of the reason why people aren't happy with our current international standing. It also has something to do with the fact that 3 of our 4 provinces are now getting through to the group stages at minimum. It also has to do with the Grand Slam of 2009. It also has to do with how we now have better players and a greater depth then we ever did have under EOS. So yes, people do expect more. Leinster are only part of that reason so give up your bitter rants. It's makes you seem like a mental.

phily2002

Not a bad team, in fairness no matter what team is picked people are gonna give out

Happy to see McLaughlin get a start, imo he's probably are best tackler/hardest hitter(next to Ferris) and looking forward to seeing him. POM is a bit unlucky to be left out as is Henry.
Glad Tuohy gets another start, he was solid last week but I think people are expecting more from him as we know what he's capable of.
All in all a strong pack and think we'll match them up front.
Would have liked to see Reddan start but Murray is not nearly as bad as some make him out. Hopefully he'll silence his critics with a solid performance.
Darcy will be out to prove a point, having been dropped last week I think he'll be eager to go, you have to feel sorry for Cave though. 7 mins last week in a dead game and then gets dropped from the squad...
McFadden showed good pace last week but can't help think he's not a great winger, he was found a bit wanting but theres not many other options on the right wing(maybe Trimble and Zebo on the left which will probably happen at some point)
really looking forward to the game, hopefully New Zeland will be a bit over confident and we'll catch them on the hop. We really need to front up in the tackle area and not go backwards allowing them quick ball. We need the aggression that we showed against England in Croker(as should be every game). Come on lads lets cause an upset

bamboozle

glad to see Darcy and Mclaughlin come in as we will can expect to see the familiarity & cohesiveness of the leinster back row and centres playing....which makes the selection of Murray all the more amusing as you'd imagine playing the leinster back-row, half backs and centres would give a strong balanced spine to the team.

i guess Murray is starting for his physicality, watched the first test again last night and he was good defensively. Hope Ryan and Touhy develop further as a unit. Was very impressed with Fitzpatrick's role last week, solid scrum and showed up well around the park. Hopefully Best can build on an animal performance last week.

Selection of McLaughlin should see their lineout targeted.

Klunk_NZ

Keiran Read,
Better cricket player than rugby player. True story.

Teferi

Feel bad for Reddan.

I don't know why Cave would be on the bench one week and then not start the next? I mean, happy for Darce to start as his Leinster form has been unreal but Kidneys selection inconsistencies continue.

picking a scrum half on the basis of his defence is akin to selecting Paul McShane up front for Ireland tonight.

I hate that it's been DK's motus operandi since inception.

seeing_ie

From my extensive research, it looks like our new kiwi frunds are trolls on a raid from planet rugby, where trolling has become something of an artform.

Klunk_NZ

I'm not a member of planet rugby and how am I trolling?

seeing_ie

Klunk_NZ wrote: »

I'm not a member of planet rugby and how am I trolling?

Figure it out.

Klunk_NZ

Kez actually is a better cricket player then rugby player. Or atleast he was, he made the NZ Cricket Under 19 and was captain of the age group 1st class side 'Northern Districts' He was a phenomenal opening batsmen. He had a bright cricketing future. But he got offered a super 15 contract out of school, how can you turn that down?

I would know because he is a childhood friend and a teammate in club cricket.

seeing_ie

seeing_ie wrote: »

Figure it out.

trolling does not mean "not agreeing with groupthink and as a result not posting anything that is different to what is already said".

Just because people are new, and don't agree with us, but provide a different viewpoint, doesn't make them trolls!

Clearlier

Fireball07 wrote: »

Murray V Reddan- Murray was given an unfairly harsh time after the last time. Okay he did make some mistakes, costly ones at that, but he really picked his game up, his passing wasn't slow and his defence was brilliant. Reddan is probably a better choice but I think Murray will do okay at least. From a defensive POV, it makes sense.

While some of the criticism of Murray is perhaps over the top he was frequently poor at clearing the ball away from the breakdown and sometimes downright awful. He single-handedly butchered most of Ireland's best attacking opportunities by giving New Zealand enough time to realign in defence. Any reasonably organised defence with as much time to get in position as New Zealand had will look nigh on impenetrable.

Fireball07 wrote: »

D'Arcy at centre...he'll add a certain solidity but I don't think he has what it takes for international rugby anymore. Bit of a step back. Would have preferred Cave but at least he is a natural 12 and will slot in with Sexton and BOD seamlessly.

The problem with Cave is that he looked anything but an international centre when he came on last week. I'd be inclined to give him another shot because I think he has the quality for this level but given that the biggest defensive problem we had last week was in the 13 channel where Earls was a step back from where he should have been in the alignment I'm not terribly surprised to see BOD move back there and to the best of my knowledge Cave never plays 12 which has quite different demands to 13.

Fireball07 wrote: »

Trimble is the other player in, I guess it's fair enough to switch things around again. He's a good player, generally performs well for his country. Form hasn't been spectacular but from the players in the squad, I don't think there's many complaints with him starting. McFadden is a bit lucky but he has a chance to redeem himself....I'd like to see Zebo get another start tbh.

McFadden is very lucky. If you think about it he only gets on to the Leinster team when there's an injury and frankly I think that's his level at the moment. He's got bags of pace and works hard but he makes poor defensive decisions and he's often not on the same wavelength as others in attack.

Sebo is unlucky, my initial thoughts last week were that he looked a bit lightweight and he does but on reviewing the game he did a number of good things. My biggest criticism of him is that he tends to stay out on his wing for most of the game and in particular I don't think that he worked as part of a back 3. He's young and inexperienced though and I thought he did enough to merit another game.

Clegg wrote: »

Mc Fadden - not good
Murray - poor selection
D'arcy - oh dear

I imagine Kidney is going to continue with his party piece of moving Sexton to 12 when ROG comes on. Never mind that fact that ROG is just a passenger and Sexton isn't a 12.

A bit tough on ROG, I don't think that he offers as much as Sexton but he's still a decent player. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see him come on at fullback if Kearney were to get injured. We wouldn't lose a massive amount defensively and he would appreciate the extra space to pin New Zealand back. On the negative side we'd be a lot less sure under high balls and we wouldn't have anything to offer ball in hand.

Clegg wrote: »

Reddan will start the final test match alongside ROG.

:eek:

thomond2006 wrote: »

Incredibly harsh on Cave to drop him from the 22 without getting a real shot and similarly on Henry for not getting a look in again. However McLaughlin was very good during Leinster's run in.

McFadden is very fortunate to still be there.

I think that POM is the most unfortunate of the dropped players. He struggled to get to the pace of the game in the first half but he really grew into the game and I think that he would have hit the ground running this week.

Klunk_NZ

Deleted User wrote: »

trolling does not mean "not agreeing with groupthink and as a result not posting anything that is different to what is already said".

Just because people are new, and don't agree with us, but provide a different viewpoint, doesn't make them trolls!

I feel I have been very accommodating to the strength or potential strength of Irish Rugby. I do believe we are superior but thats not exactly debatable.

.ak

McFadden: Had a terrible game last week imo, but who else is there? I wouldn't have Zebo infront of him based on last week - We didn't see enough of Zebo with the ball in hand, nor was there enough ball ran at him.

D'Arcy: I have faith. He's been more than solid for Leinster, I think he'll provide a solid platform for Ireland - but don't expect any go forward ball.

Murray: He's got another chance to prove himself. If he doesn't make an impact now, I'll give up watching Kidney until late 2013... when he's coaching the Eagles or something.

Locky: Interesting. Don't think he'll make an impact on this level, but perhaps it's better having POM on the bench as he can cover all backrow positions.

JustinDee

Klunk_NZ wrote: »

Kez actually is a better cricket player then rugby player. Or atleast he was, he made the NZ Cricket Under 19 and was captain of the age group 1st class side 'Northern Districts' He was a phenomenal opening batsmen. He had a bright cricketing future. But he got offered a super 15 contract out of school, how can you turn that down?

I would know because he is a childhood friend and a teammate in club cricket.

According to his player profile on a media disc NZ handed out last time around, he played U17 cricket and it was two years after third-level that he was offered a pro contract with the Canterbury union making his Super 15 debut three years after college in 2007.
Great player and last season was his best so far for sure.

Klunk_NZ

JustinDee wrote: »

According to his player profile on a media disc NW handed out last time around, he played U17 cricket and it was two years after third-level that he was offered a pro contract with the Canterbury union making his Super 15 debut three years after college in 2007.

I might have mixed canterbury rams and canterbury crusaders.

Fishooks12

Clearlier wrote: »

The problem with Cave is that he looked anything but an international centre when he came on last week.

He was on the field of play for less than 7 minutes. How you can come to that conclusion after that is beyond me

JustinDee

Klunk_NZ wrote: »

I might have mixed canterbury rams and canterbury crusaders.

Just pointing out that neither was 'out of school', that's all.

Klunk_NZ

JustinDee wrote: »

Just pointing out that neither was 'out of school', that's all.

Thats because he picked up a knee injury playing for Counties Manukau, He ruptured his ACL I believe. This delayed his first game considerably. He was contracted for quite a while previous.

JRant

Absolutely delighted for Lockie, he deserves a start after putting the hard work in over the last couple of seasons. Makes sense to give him some game time and we'll need his defensive abilities.
McFadden is very lucky to be given another start but realisticly it's due to Earl's injury and a small squad.
Touhy should get better with more game time under his belt so I've no real concerns there.
Murray must be getting close to last chance saloon even with DK at this stage and it pretty much cements the fact that while DK is coach Reddan will be picking up splinters on the bench.
I feel for Cave and Henry though, both deserve at least one start and certainly more than the 7 mins Cave got last week. With such a small squad going over it would be extremely unfair not to get any gametime at all.
The bench however is a horror show waiting to happen, any injuries in the backline and we could be up the creek.
Think we'll be a bit closer to NZ than many of us expect. In all honesty after watching the game a second time we played reasonable well. What we should have learned from it was under absolutely no circumstances should we kick to their back 3 as the majority of their scores came from this insane tactic.

tolosenc

Has anyone read today's Thornley article. Is it me or is there a bit of criticism in it?

Deleted User wrote: »

picking a scrum half on the basis of his defence is akin to selecting Paul McShane up front for Ireland tonight.

Selecting Paul McShane at all is why comparisons are drawn between Trap and Kidders.

Hype710

No full back cover is idiotic. I have no idea whether we'll see Zebo there or Johnny move back if Kearney gets injured. Murray's inclusion is incredulous again. Even Gerry is running out of positive aspects of his play to justify his selection. 'Physicality around the fringes and cover defence' is the line usually trotted out, and that's quite frankly the last reason you'd select a scrum half. Maybe at this moment Kidney realises dropping Johnny for ROG on a number of occasions was detrimental to his confidence so his backing Murray to play himself into his supposes 'potential'. It's killing the side and I genuinely think Murray could come good the way Mike Philips served his apprenticeship under Dwayne Peel before assuming the jersey when he was ready.

seeing_ie

Deleted User wrote: »

trolling does not mean "not agreeing with groupthink and as a result not posting anything that is different to what is already said".

Just because people are new, and don't agree with us, but provide a different viewpoint, doesn't make them trolls!

Correct!

The attempt at humour though was such a fail that it suggests troll, or else someone's two year old got at the keyboard.